ABSTRACT

Introduction: Ovarian cancer is one of the deadliest malignancies among women worldwide. The lack of early diagnostic markers fuels an unfavorable prognosis as most patients are at an advanced stage when the disease is diagnosed for the first time. The role of the kallikrein-related peptidase (KLK) family in ovarian cancer progression and prognosis has been thoroughly investigated in various studies. Most of these peptidases are upregulated in ovarian cancer tissue compared to normal ovarian tissue and their expression is linked to overall and progression-free survival (OS/PFS). In this review, we address the clinical relevance of KLKs in ovarian cancer and their diagnostic potential.

Areas covered: This review covers the expression and regulation of KLKs in ovarian cancer with focus on the prognostic and diagnostic potential, especially in liquid biopsies.

Expert opinion: In ovarian cancer, several kallikrein-related peptidases are markedly expressed in a tissue-specific manner. Tumor-derived protease secretion results in elevated levels in serum and ascites. KLKs may thus serve as potential biomarkers alone or in combination with other serum tumor markers, such as Cancer Antigen 125 (CA125), for early detection and assessment of the prognosis of ovarian cancer patients.

摘要

简介：卵巢癌是全球女性中最致命的恶性肿瘤之一。缺乏早期诊断标志物助长了不利的预后，因为大多数患者在首次诊断该疾病时处于晚期阶段。激肽释放酶相关肽酶 (KLK) 家族在卵巢癌进展和预后中的作用已在各种研究中进行了深入研究。与正常卵巢组织相比，这些肽酶中的大多数在卵巢癌组织中上调，并且它们的表达与总生存期和无进展生存期 (OS/PFS) 有关。在这篇综述中，我们讨论了 KLK 在卵巢癌中的临床相关性及其诊断潜力。

涵盖的领域：本综述涵盖了卵巢癌中 KLKs 的表达和调控，重点关注预后和诊断潜力，尤其是在液体活检中。

专家意见：在卵巢癌中，几种激肽释放酶相关肽酶以组织特异性方式显着表达。肿瘤来源的蛋白酶分泌导致血清和腹水中水平升高。因此，KLKs 可以单独或与其他血清肿瘤标志物如癌症抗原 125 (CA125) 组合用作潜在的生物标志物，用于早期检测和评估卵巢癌患者的预后。